Next up on October 7, 2024: Japanese pianist and composer Tomoko Ohno.
Thank you for your support of
The Piano: Bach to Bebop and
PianoJazz DC. Your contribution enables us to continue our decades long presentation of major artists worldwide. Tomoko Ohno kicks off the 2024/25 season, supported by the Embassy of Japan. She is followed by
American Rhapsody, a new recording project by Burnett Thompson with bassist Alex Blake and tabla virtuoso Hamid Habib Zadah. Jordanian/Palestinian concert pianist
Iyad Sughayer joins us from London on March 10, then the great Argentine jazz pianist
Leo Genovese closes out the season on May 5. We opened the past season with the brilliant concert pianist/NPR host
Christopher O'Riley at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. PianoJazz DC continued with two great artists,
Shoko Nagai and
ELEW at Decatur House Museum. The
Arts Up Next interview series featured the composer/pianist John McGinn, who spoke of his life-long association with the compositions and performances of John Adams, composer of the operas
Nixon in China and
Doctor Atomic. As those who have attended the performances know, the concerts themselves not only feature the top artists of the day, but enable the audience to engage with the artist and with other audience members. Many friendships have thus developed over the years.
Burnett Thompson has allowed music to draw him into countless corners of the planet, from the mountains of Yunnan, China, the mews of London, cellars of Vienna, medinas of north Africa, and back to the alleys of Beijing. He has collaborated with Lorin Maazel, Arturo Sandoval, Alex Blake, the Manchester String Quartet, cellist Han-Na Chang, and directed a host of remarkable concert series, including Castleton in Performance, Hill Center Concert Series, Jazz on Jackson Place, the Foggy Bottom Chamber Ensemble, and Piano Jazz at the Arts Club. Recent projects have included Autumn in Yunnan, ethnic music of southwest China, and Reformation, a fresh take on 15th century secular and sacred music of middle Europe. Burnett played a large role in exposiing Chinese jazz and traditional performers to the American audience.